The Laptop Thread: Configs, deals & questions

This is a discussion on The Laptop Thread: Configs, deals & questions within Gadgets, Computers & Software, part of the Shifting gears category; Originally Posted by sajo
Is buying a laptop from Dell's website ( www.dell.co.in ) recommended ? I found their rates ...

Is buying a laptop from Dell's website (www.dell.co.in) recommended ? I found their rates lower than flipkart or even offline stores.
Ofcourse, the offline store rates I compared were without bargaining. I am not very good at that.. :(

The final price difference is pretty low in most cases (less than 1.5K), I would go for buying at an actual shop, since in most cases you have the peace of mind that the new gadget you are paying a fortune for, actually works well, most shops will allow you to check the piece before billing.

The final price difference is pretty low in most cases (less than 1.5K), I would go for buying at an actual shop, since in most cases you have the peace of mind that the new gadget you are paying a fortune for, actually works well, most shops will allow you to check the piece before billing.

Fault percentage might be very small, but it's there.

Thank you. But in this case, the difference seems to be well over 3k (before negotiations).
The shopkeeper has offered to throw in some freebies , but I dont think they would collectively cost that much.

And is "1 Year Accidental Damage Protection with Premium Phone Support -Retail" any different to or an addition to regular onsite warranty offered by most others ?

Thank you. But in this case, the difference seems to be well over 3k (before negotiations).
The shopkeeper has offered to throw in some freebies , but I dont think they would collectively cost that much.

And is "1 Year Accidental Damage Protection with Premium Phone Support -Retail" any different to or an addition to regular onsite warranty offered by most others ?

This is the standard warranty offered by Dell.

Try a couple of other shops as well, some offer nearly the same rates as online if you haggle a bit.

Hi everybody
I have a Dell Inspiron (I think 5040)
When I start the computer I get a message that it is advisable to clean the disk and the disk cleaning has been cancelled.
I have not done it and I do not know how to restore the process.
I am technologically challenged and will appreciate step by step help.
Thanks a lot and regards

Thank you. But in this case, the difference seems to be well over 3k (before negotiations).
The shopkeeper has offered to throw in some freebies , but I dont think they would collectively cost that much.

And is "1 Year Accidental Damage Protection with Premium Phone Support -Retail" any different to or an addition to regular onsite warranty offered by most others ?

Dell India website once used to offer wide range of customisation possible on a single machine which is sadly not the case any more.

My dell studio laptop battery is refusing to charge. It happened very abruptly. I had a full charge battery and once the battery drained after approx 2 hours , i plugged in the charger. The charging symbol comes on in the task bar but the charge refuses to increase. Its still remaining @ 10% remaining even after 1 hour charging. Also the battery symbol which mimics filling up when the charger is plugged in stays put ! Any idea what could be the problem?

My dell studio laptop battery is refusing to charge. It happened very abruptly. I had a full charge battery and once the battery drained after approx 2 hours , i plugged in the charger. The charging symbol comes on in the task bar but the charge refuses to increase. Its still remaining @ 10% remaining even after 1 hour charging. Also the battery symbol which mimics filling up when the charger is plugged in stays put ! Any idea what could be the problem?

One more query regarding the above laptop.
The Battery is behaving strangely.
I had replaced the original battery with new one (Sony) for Rs.4950/- with 1 year warranty.
The battery is not holding charge for even 10-15 mins. It gets discharged and the Laptop goes to Hibernate mode.
Also when I restart the Laptop and connect the charger to it, the Battery meter (system tray icon) shows (or should I say Jump) Battery Fully charged (100%) directly from 20-25%.
Is it possible that the Chip as mentioned in above post has been damaged?
Today I went to the shop from where I purchased the battery, but the owner was not there. I will visit him tomorrow and update.

Just now checked that Battery backup is as below-
I turned Charger Off at 11:52 pm the battery was 100% charged and at 12:07 am it was 10%.

I also had a similar problem once. Most probably you need a calibration. Here's how to do it .Try discharging the battery completely once to 0%, by disabling the auto shut down or hibernation feature. Then charge it completely. Preferably, don't use it while charging. Charge to 100%.
Disconnect the charger and use it normally.
See the problem is it can't measure the remaining charge accurately. It gets fixed by this method. Be sure to try it.

Just now checked that Battery backup is as below-
I turned Charger Off at 11:52 pm the battery was 100% charged and at 12:07 am it was 10%.

The battery is getting discharged. If it is in warranty get it replaced. A fresh battery should retain its charge for at least one year if it is disconnected. I rarely switch my laptop off, just put it in sleep mode, and it discharges < 20% overnight.

To check if it is the battery or the laptop that is in error -
. Charge the battery till it shows 100% charge.
. Switch the laptop off.
. Disconnect the battery.
. Reconnect after 12 hours and check the charge.

If it shows more than 5% discharge (charge = 95%), the battery is fine, and the laptop is consuming the power.

Just wanted to write about my experience with Lenovo Customer Service. My work laptop is a Lenovo Thinkpad which cost around 70-75K. I have interacted with their call center (will rate it 5/10 - 2 very good experiences and 3 awful experiences). I have interacted on the phone with their Santacruz service center (3/10) and personally with their Chembur service center (3/10).

The laptop was under warranty and it took nearly 25 days and 100s of phone calls and a wasted day to get my laptop serviced for a problem which was diagnosed correctly on day 1 - motherboard had to be changed. From then on, it became a nightmare for the part to come and for the service guy to arrive. Finally though my laptop had a 24 hour on-site SLA as part of the warranty, I had to close my complaint for a on-site visit, then go to the Chembur service center - log a new case - wait 4 days for the part, visit the center again & wait 8 hours for the motherboard to be replaced.